Monday, October 10, 2011

My husband is home from work today, so I need to be quick about this, but I do have something on my mind that I thought might be worth a paragraph or two.

I am troubled when people in the media or political activists refer to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (of which I am a member) as a cult. Of course, I realize that, in the broadest definition, every religion can be considered a cult...but I also know that detractors of Mormons and our faith selectively choose to employ that term because of certain negative connotations attached to it. Extreme groups such as the Branch Davidians or Manson Family, for instance, have been assigned the label of cult, and the word itself has acquired overtones of mind control, isolation, psychological manipulation, and not uncommonly, evil.

With over 14 million members throughout the world, one of the most active welfare and humanitarian relief programs in existence, and families who are integrally involved in serving their communities, the LDS Church is hardly cultish...either in its action or in its intent. I sincerely hope and believe that responsible people will recognize this kind of agenda-driven labeling of the fourth-largest religion in our country for what it is: an attempt to demonize a religious group for personal, social, or political reasons that, while unknown to me, cannot possibly excuse the disrespect and dishonestly entailed in that effort.

Just my humble opinion, of course, and today I needed to put it out there. (Maybe I should stop watching these cable news channels altogether!)

21 comments:

Things like this upset me and I am so sorry this has happened. The media can just be so disrespectful and negative as can some people. I just do not understand why everyone cannot be respectful of others and their choices.

We were not all made alike, we do not all like the same things we have a free will and should be allowed to make choices without being called something we are not.

I am sorry to be sounding off on your blog sweet Sue but this is one subject that gets me going.

I agree Sue. I have been so baffled as to why that one Pastor (or whoever he is) is getting so much air time and calling the LDS religion a "Theological Cult". He is so off base and I wish they would give Pres. Monson equal time to tell why we are NOT a theological cult of any other kind of cult. Ridiculous!

Thanks for putting it out there so well. I too would like to say something about it but I might make it worse!I have really had to filter the media lately because I find myself becoming sensitive to stuff that's out there.

It makes me so sad when politicians with an agenda, religious leaders who should know better and a rapacious media get on a bandwagon like this and spread falsehood. The best we can all do is to speak up when anyone repeats slander.

Yep, if you don't want to get riles, you really have to stay away from the cable news shows. I was disgusted by that pastor's remarks - he was so smug about it too, all the while making the most idiotic remarks about a religion he obviously knows very little about. On the show I was watching, at least the anchor gave him a bit of a hard time. I kind of enjoyed that part, but I wish they would give a Church representative equal time. I hate taking this stuff quietly.

The persecution will always be there in one form or another, right? I guess we also get to go through it... just in a different way than the early Saints. But honestly, good for you for putting this out there. For standing up for the Church. I haven't been listening to the news much, and I guess it is a good thing. I am still working on letting people have their own opinions when I feel they are completely and utterly wrong. I also have a hard time not getting upset when my kids throw tantrums, so... you know.... working on controlling my passion, I guess. But again, I love that you put this out there.

"Why can't we all just get along?" (that question never gets old) .... I don't see why people fail to recognize that we are all human, no matter what our skin colour is, our religious beliefs are, our education is ... etc ... we are a human race ... we should love and respect each other ... frustrating ....

People tend to be afraid of that which they don't understand. That's how prejudice concerning anything is born: Ignorance and fear.

The VAST MAJORITY of folks who would denounce LDS as a cult know absolutely nothing about it. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It's easier for these folks to 'parrot' the negativity they've heard elsewhere instead of familiarizing themselves with it before they form an opinion.

To act negatively takes no effort at all. It's the lazy man's way out.

Positive action requires continual effort.

You've captured yet another reason why I like animals better than people. :)

Having no cable or dish/directtv where we are staying in the Northeast, this particular 'media firestorm'hit me hard when I read about it on facebook of all places...so frustrating.

I watched Anderson Cooper ( who I usually can't stand ) take on the Pastor with zeal and real facts and he used mormon.org as his information...he wiped the floor up with that guy and made him backpedal so many times on what he had previously said about the church and it members, made my head spin !

I am proud to be a Christian and happy to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It has been the best decision I ever made for my life and the lives of our family and we are happily still serving in our church family, our community and blessing the world through the tithes and offerings we give freely each year for others benefit...what could be better than that ???

Sue, I couldn't agree with you more. Having many Mormon friends it hurts my heart when I hear this nonsense in the media. It's vile and unacceptable and I can't stand to listen to it. In fact, when I was watching the news the other day and heard all this nonsense I turned to my husband and said "This is just RIDICULOUS!" He totally agreed with me and said, "Well, consider the source!"

If it makes you feel any better most of the people saying these things on the news also think that Catholics are in a cult, and some don't even consider us to be Christians.

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